Polarization Fundamental Laboratory Experiments Ludwig Eichner Thorlabs, Inc. 435 Rout 206, Newton NJ www.thorlabs.om
[email protected] Education Systems from Thorlabs, Inc. Providing knowledge for the trade Fundamental Kit EDKPOL1 Manual EDKPOL1-M ver 0.9 (Draft) 1 Laser safety is the avoidance of laser accidents, especially those involving eye injuries. Since even relatively small amounts of laser light can lead to permanent eye injuries, the sale and usage of lasers is typically subject to government regulations. Moderate and high-power lasers are potentially hazardous because they can burn the retina of the eye, or even the skin. To control the risk of injury, various specifications, for example ANSI Z136 in the US and IEC 60825 internationally, define "classes" of laser depending on their power and wavelength. These regulations also prescribe required safety measures, such as labeling lasers with specific warnings, and wearing laser safety goggles when operating lasers. 2 Table of Contents Introduction Safety Overview Polarization Experiments Birefringence Circular Polarization Double Refraction Polarization by Reflection Polarization by Scattering Properties of Sheet Polarizers 3 Experiments Categories Fundamental experiment may be accomplished using the kit consisting selected Thorlabs product line. A combination of product will produce experimental hands on experiments in fundamental physics interrogating polarization. All Educational Series kits contains building blocks to build experiments in that category. Extensive Experiments Categories Extensive categories in Thorlabs product line. Each category is contains extensive building blocks to build experiments in that spans fundamental category. Experiment in this category will be much more detailed and complex. These experiments cannot be completed in a short interval.